Pune’s Abhijit Katke and Kiran Bhagat of Satara to clash for Maharashtra Kesari title

City’s Katke reached the final from the mat category while Bhagat advanced through the mud category

puneUpdated: Dec 23, 2017 23:28 IST

Ashish Phadnis Hindustan Times, Pune

In the final of the mat category, Abhijeet Katke (blue) of Pune beats Akshay Shinde at the Maharashtra Kesari tournament held at Bhugaon.(HT PHOTO)

City’s Abhijit Katke and Kiran Bhagat of Satara will clash for the prestigious Maharashtra Kesari title on Sunday.

At Mamasaheb Mohol wrestling complex, Katke reached final from the mat category while Kiran advanced through mud category.

In the final of mat category, Katke defeated beed’s Akshay Shinde. The livewire bout saw Katke attempting aggressive moves right from the start. Without giving much chance to his opponent, he took control of the match and garnered one point, immediately followed by some twisting and turning moves to win four points.

Then he changed gears and displayed some good tactics in Hafte and Bharandaj moves to collect total 10 points. In reply, Akshay couldn’t score a single point.

Earlier in the quarterfinals, Abhijit outplayed Kolhapur’s Mahesh Varute 10-0. He won loads of applause when he garnered six points on ‘Bharandaj move’ within few seconds of the bout.

Then he continued his domination and didn’t allow his opponent to earn a single point.

Another title contender Sagar Birajdar of Latur crashed out of the tournament. He went down to Kolhapur’s Kautuk Dafale, who displayed good techniques and patience in the bound.

On the other hand, Sagar went out of the ring twice, giving easy points to his opponent. It was clearly visible that Sagar was losing stamina and was reluctant to face any moves by Kautuk and eventually lost the bout.

Sagar, the son of Rustum-E-Hind Harshichandra Birajdar and trains in Gokul Wastad Talim, set by his father in Pune. He had won a bronze medal in 2013 Senior Nationals and in 2016 All India Inter Railway Wrestling Competition, followed by a gold medal in All India University in 2014.

However, he was yet to win the Maharashtra Kesari title, and was obviously under the burden of expectations and failed to deliver when it required the most.